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Dark Cloud for PlayStation 2 Videos >>
Summary This game was truely perfect. I haven't played it in awhile but it would be playstations Zelda. It uses the ps2 abilities very well. Gets you into a nice 3d model. It is pretty good in lenght. I would say that this is one Rpg that compares to Final Fantasy. FibalFantasy still is the better of the games but this is a very good game. I like how you can change your character while fighting. Its better then the traditional have muilti characters where you just select a move like in Final Fantasy. My only problem is that you can't die in it. If you do you just start out side of the dungen that you where in. But all in all its a good game.Sound Sound was great. Had great music through out the game which that and the story combined made you really get into the game more.Gameplay The game play was very good. The stroy really kept you into the game and just made you want to play in longer. It only took me 2 days to beat it so its rather easy.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Rating Reviewed By Chris HammerFrom Norway Review Date 01/23/2002 Overall Rating  4 of 5 Rate this review? Summary All right here it is. In comparing Nintedo's Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Sony's Dark Cloud, there really isn't much debate in my mind. I'll just come right out and say it...Zelda 64 has a better story, better sound track, and better gameplay. Now before you go click the back button, read on and let me tell you why Zelda was better, and the reason that you should still buy Dark Cloud.First of all the gameplay of Zelda64 was, in my eyes, the best gameplay of any game ever created. The game was just so invigorating and absorbing. It made you feel as if you were actually in Hyrule sharpening up your sword for battle. Dark Cloud really doesn't do that. It can become monotanous after a while. Going from one dungeon to another dungeon to another gets boring, but there's just enough spice in the game to keep you wanting more. The story and soundtrack just went along perfect in Zelda and made the game that much better. Zelda was a whole world of which you could explore, interact, and change. Dark Cloud doesn't have this feeling. Instead of exploring hyrule field to find destinations you have a magical map that teleports you wherever you please. Fun idea, but doesn't provide as fun of gameplay. Sound also becomes monotanous after a while and will have you pulling out your favorite cd's instead of listening to Dark Clud's music. Now I know what your thinking. "According to this guy Dark Cloud is a terrible game." Simply not true. The fact that we are even comparing it to a game of Zelda's status proves it is a great game right there. Zelda is a better game, but Dark Cloud is a great game. Graphics in Dark Cloud are heads and shoulders above Zelda, and building the towns adds a new dimension to the game. Also, if your into having a whole party of players to choose from, Zelda will not quench your thirst. Dark Cloud will. All in all Dark Cloud is a great game that had a shot of being a legendary game. With 50+ hours of gameplay you know the story can't be too bad and if you are looking for something to feed your need for a Zelda-type game with a few twists, get in the car and go buy Dark Cloud. Sound see summaryGameplay see summaryWould you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary Ok, Actually I dont know how long i've played this game but it gets interesting the more Atla you collected to rebuild the nearly destroyed cities. There's Novune Village, Divine Beast Cave, Wataki Village, Wise Owl Forest, Brownboo Village, Queens, Shipwreck, and some others I haven't visited yet. I have gotten a 100% in everything, namely Completion, Request, and Collection of Alta in Novune Village, Wataki Village, and Queens. Overall I thought Dark Cloud was pretty good.The main topic of this game is to collect the Alta, floating orbs that only the hero of the story, Toan, can touched to release the contained pieces to each village or city. And fight the bosses at the end of each dungeon. At first glance me and my little sister thought that the character, Toan, on the front of the game was Link from Zelda. We were wrong. Sound Sound is usually the same each time you fight an enemy but in each village they have different music.Gameplay Read the summary.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Rating Reviewed By )-( RockyFrom Whittier, California Review Date 12/25/2001 Overall Rating 4 of 5 Rate this review? Summary I hear both positive and negative comments about Dark Cloud, so I decided to experiment with such a controversial game for myself. I never really enjoyed playing games derived from Sony like Crash Bandicoot titles but this particular game is an exception along with Parappa the Rapper. At first glance, the whole concept about building your own town seemed uninteresting but didn’t look that way after a few hours of playing. This game was rewardingly refreshing and an escape from most games I play like RPG’s and pure gun action. Dark Cloud reminded me of Sim City where constructing your own world is the main aspect of the game. The more I explored numerous dungeons the more I got siphoned in the game. It presented numerous ways to freely build houses, rivers, trees, and several other objects that I couldn’t help but glue myself mercilessly in front of my television. The story is nothing more than a sufficient piece of work. I understood the plot very well and unfortunately too well that it insulted my intelligence. Anyway, your town vanishes from thin air and it is up to you to rebuild it with the assistance of a wise man. It’s fortunate that this navigator lingered around long enough for me to get the hang of the game since he is basically a walking instruction manual. Sony could have accomplished a better job in the story department but I was left with this satisfactory achievement. The graphics and music also accommodated towards my liking of this game. Overall, if you enjoy constructing your own towns with the will of your own mind then you will definitely enjoy playing this game. Good job Sony.Sound The music reminded me of songs heard from Crono Cross. This is definitely a delightful outcome since I enjoyed all the songs from Crono Cross. The music heard from Dark Cloud depicts that of a world full of adventure with the aid of many guitar solos. The village tunes were very soothing while skirmish music easily portrays that of a bloody battle. If a sound track was made then I would be the first to get my hands on it for my listening pleasures. As for sound effects, there is nothing more relaxing than hearing the sounds of crickets at night. Dark Cloud is just like exploring the open woods full of uncanny creatures lurking about making noise just because. Sound effects provided a sense of liveliness within the game with its realistic adaptation of the real world. Overall, the music and sound department accommodated real well towards my enjoyment of the game.Since Dark Cloud is one of Playstion 2’s earlier children, you can expect to see that improvement was needed. Anyway, this game delivered much entertainment and a refreshing outlook on gaming compared to most games. Dark Cloud did not quite grasp masterpiece material but enough for me to recommend you to at least rent it. Gameplay Game play does not focus solely on construction but also emphasize on battle. You venture around with a sword and a few items along and explore this particular cavern to uncover “Orbs” that hold the remains of your lost town. Fighting enemies in the very beginning is quite intriguing but soon that will to continue fades away very rapidly. Fighting becomes very redundant and foes don’t offer much of a good fight. They basically stand there stupefied from your presence for you to easily pierce your weapon through their helpless bodies until they perish. The only exception is “Duel” battle, a type of battle where great timing takes a hold of your victory. “Duel” is an escape from typical battles since you need to press certain buttons at a particular time to win, just like Bust a Groove or PaRappa the Rapper. “Duel” battles are not only fun but mandatory to continue unlike most monsters where they can easily be avoided by running around them. It’s always exciting to find “Orbs” since you never know what you will receive whether a cottage to add to your growing world or roads to place on empty grounds. The “Orbs” eventually accumulate and this is when the excitement of initiating construction begins. The problem is that going back and forth from cave to the outside realm becomes a tedious task. Dark Cloud is more of a time consumer than hard in difficulty aspects. I expected more from the game’s difficulty outlook but was somewhat slightly quenched in the long run. Sure there were numerous allies to join and a variety of items to tinker with but just not enough to fully satisfy me. Although, customizing my own weapon of destruction was quite intriguing just like customizing soldiers in Final Fantasy Tactics. The problem is that the weapon would disintegrate after using it relentlessly on unsuspecting foes. What is the purpose of crafting a weapon if you know it would spontaneously shatter if you don’t take care of it properly. Anyway, character maneuvering is easy to master in a short period of time. The only hassle is finding which button applies to specific items, trust me, I wasted numerous of them by experimenting with their use and such. Overall, the game offered much variety of gaming aspects from battle to strategy. I don’t quite consider it pure RPG even though it contained similar elements but more of a blending of various backgrounds.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary Reviewed by Jimmy Payne of MasterGamer.com, home to hundreds of brutally honest video game reviews.Dark Cloud is a decent attempt at giving the PlayStation 2 a much-needed RPG, but it falls short of being memorable in every conceivable way. The inevitable comparisons to games like Zelda make this game look even worse. A gripping story line is the most important quality that RPGs need to have, but the creators of Dark Cloud decided to "pull a Zelda" and give us a watered-down story line. To make matters worse, the story line is never even acknowledged for large parts of the game. The gameplay mainly consists of completing dungeons, finding pieces of your town so that you can re-build it,\ and every once in a while referring back to the hastily-thrown-together plot. Dark Cloud's graphics are respectable thanks largely to the water and fire effects. The towns are also well done in terms of detail and overall art design. Sadly, the dungeons have so little detail to them that witnessing an impressive flame effect only serves to remind you how bland and color-less the environments are. The most disturbing trend in recent RPGs is the fact that developers don't seem to think there's anything wrong with making the dungeons as stereotypical and generic as possible. Dark Cloud takes this epidemic to a whole new level with dungeons that have a much higher chance of making you drowsy than making you sit on the edge of your seat. If you derive pleasure from going through room after repetitive room until you finally find the one room with the big treasure chest that holds the key, then Dark Cloud is the game for you. The baffling design logic continues with weapons that can actually break during battles from over-use. The quiet beeping noise which serves to warn you that your weapon is about to shatter is sometimes hard to hear over all of the other audio, which leads to lots of wonderful occasions where a big battle comes to a screeching halt because your freakin' sword breaks. Sony has clearly been afflicted with Shenmue Syndrome, a terrifying illness that makes video game developers forget that realism doesn't necessarily equal fun in video games. This condition further manifests itself in the fact that you have to drink water every so often or you'll die. Shenmue Syndrome clearly gave Sony the following logic: "Making gamers save the world in RPGs is soooooo 1999... if we really want to innovate, we have to make gamers save the world AND periodically quench their thirst!" Dark Cloud has a couple of redeeming qualities, but they don't come close to out-weighing its flaws. The combat system is moderately entertaining, but it's a blatant rip-off of Zelda if there ever was one. The town-building elements of the game could have been fun if there weren't so many restrictions placed on you. It would be nice to be able to build your very own town rather than rather than a replica of the way the town used to be. For die-hard Zelda fans, this game is worth renting because it's the closest thing to Zelda that Sony has to offer. On the other hand, if you don't like dungeon crawling, Dark Cloud isn't going to change your mind. Send your thoughts on this review to feedback@mastergamer.com Sound see summaryGameplay see summaryWould you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
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4.15 of 5
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